14 November 1943 Part 3

14 November 1943 Island exception in the counterattack policy

Extract concerning measures and intentions under Führer Directive 51: “I have ordered the uncompromising withdrawal and assembly of every coastal-defence division from coastal fronts not under attack. The only exceptions are divisions holding important, continuously threatened defence areas or islands, for example in the Netherlands or in the Channel, and the reserve divisions deployed on the coast.”

The following passage makes the choice of divisions for withdrawal and counterattack dependent on the developing situation and clear identification of the enemy’s main attack front.

Editorial note: This general exception should be read alongside the conditional proposal of 11 November; it does not by itself document the cancellation or execution of that proposal.

Original source image 00753.jpg — T-312 Roll 1563. Island exception in the counterattack policy.

German Seventh Army records, NARA T-312 Roll 1563. T312_R1563_Jersey_and_Channel_Islands_English_Translation.docx. File 57350/2 • Scans 00752–00753 • Telex of 14 November 1943, 01:30; received 02:35. Local scan references identify the supplied image filenames, not substituted microfilm frame numbers.